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Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) took to the blogosphere and vigorously defended itself as a champion of OTT services following accusations made by HBO parent Time Warner Inc. that the MSO’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Bright House Networks would thwart online video competition.

“Charter wants programmers to offer their content OTT. We have invested millions of dollars building an infrastructure that enables and encourages our customers to watch video online or OTT,” Charter said in a company blog post.

The missive came after Time Warner Inc. and HBO lawyers met with FCC officials last week and expressed their concerns about the deal.

Bethany Lutheran College and Minnesota State University, Mankato will celebrate 15 years of a unique broadcast partnership on Saturday, March 12, 2016, with a special reunion/recognition event prior to the Minnesota State men’s hockey WCHA playoff game at Verizon Wireless Center, located in downtown Mankato.

It was 2001 when an up-and-coming collegiate broadcast program teamed with an up-and-coming NCAA Division I men’s hockey program to form a unique partnership that has produced positive results for both. The partnership grew out of a meeting between Bethany’s Vice President for Finance and Administration Daniel Mundahl and Charter Communications’ Director of Field Operations Craig Stensaas.

The Maverick Hockey broadcast partnership has been a catalyst for dozens of Bethany graduates to secure jobs with well-known broadcast organizations.

Greg Vandermause, Bethany’s Production Studio Manager commented, “We are excited to celebrate 15 years of a great broadcasting partnership between Bethany, Minnesota State and Charter Communications. Throughout the years our students have landed jobs and internships at major networks and organizations such as ESPN, Fox Sports North, WWE, Good Morning America, NBA teams and so much more. Our program at Bethany has grown significantly through this partnership and we look forward to many years to come.”

Calling the cable business “under-penetrated,” Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) CFO Christopher Winfrey continued to hammer home his company’s rationale for attempting to by Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Bright House Networks.

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank 2016 Media Internet & Telecom Conference, Winfrey said Charter has achieved “operational momentum” since the 2012 digital overhaul initiated under President and CEO Thomas Rutledge, accelerating margins on each user with more efficient customer service and technology.

Plying operational efficiencies such as the Spectrum Guide cloud-based video distribution system, and the World Box standardized set-top template, to the customer bases of TWC and Bright House Networks will allow Charter to expand its momentum, according to Winfrey.

Charter took to the blogosphere Monday to push back on the allegations it is OTT-unfriendly, saying it was a case of competitors trying to get unnecessary conditions on the deal to serve their own businesses interests.

As the FCC vets its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, deal opponents have been leveling that charge, and using Charter CEO Tom Rutledge and Liberty Media chairman John Malone’s past statements to try and make that the deal could ““harm the continued development of over-the-top video broadband competition.”

According to an ex parte filing on the meeting, representatives of Time Warner (no longer the parent of Time Warner Cable) and HBO met with FCC staffers March 2, the second such meeting over the OTT issue, to drive home that point as the FCC approaches its self-imposed 180-day deadline for completing its deal review.

The first meeting was held back in January.

In a blog post Monday (March 7), Charter said: “Our overriding principle is that consumers should be able to watch the content they want – wherever and whenever they want to watch it – including content offered OTT.”

Charter Communications Inc. CEO Tom Rutledge told analysts on Thursday that the cable company could hire 20,000 for new service-related jobs if it merges with Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks to slash the outsourcing of service calls to overseas centers and hire more in-house techs.

It seems like good customer service vows have broken out like a rash all over the cable industry.

Rutledge, a long-time cable executive, has boosted employment at Charter by about 43 percent over the last several years as he has transformed the former bankrupt cablecaster into a smooth operator that has proposed acquiring Time Warner Cable and Bright House. Federal regulators are expected to make a decision on the Charter/Time Warner Cable/Bright House deal within months.Click here for more.

Charter Communications’ massive merger — which would roll three cable companies into one — cleared a hurdle Tuesday night when California regulators held a marathon hearing to gather public comment.

Charter’s $67-billion plan to buy Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks — two large California providers — attracted dozens of enthusiastic supporters and some vocal critics at the four-hour hearing in downtown Los Angeles.

No decision on the deal was reached. But dozens of community groups from Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, San Diego County, Long Beach and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys urged a PUC commissioner and an administrative law judge who is overseeing the matter to approve Charter’s take-over plans.

Charter has pledged to expand a program to provide affordable Internet service for some of Southern California’s poor residents — a key selling point of the deal, particularly among community group leaders who showed up in force on Tuesday.

As it seeks regulatory approval to acquire Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications announced details on Thursday of plans for a low-cost broadband service priced at $14.99 monthly for eligible low-income households, including seniors.

Charter (Nasdaq: CHTR) is based in Stamford and offers cable service in the Fairfield County towns of Trumbull, Monroe, Newtown, Brookfield, New Fairfield and Sherman, as well as parts of Litchfield County and in Eastern Connecticut. If approved, Charter’s takeovers of New York City-based Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Syracuse, N.Y.-based Bright House Networks would make the combined company the second largest cable TV carrier in the nation after Philadelphia-based Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA).

Charter Communications today announced the details of a new low-cost broadband service that the company will begin offering to low-income customers within six months of the close of its pending merger with Time Warner Cable and acquisition of Bright House Networks. The new service will deliver the highest speeds of any comparable offering and be the first to offer fast broadband to low-income seniors in addition to low-income families, providing substantial benefits to these underserved populations and setting a new standard for low-cost broadband.

The service will deliver 30/4 Mbps speeds for $14.99 per month, making it the only low-cost internet service for low-income populations that meets – and even exceeds – the FCC’s definition of high-speed broadband. The fastest speed currently offered by comparable programs today is only 10 Mbps. Charter’s industry leading broadband offering will provide substantial benefits for underserved low-income families and senior citizens.

“Recognizing the central role broadband plays in our daily lives and the economic challenges faced by many Americans today, we look forward to launching this offering that will provide more consumers a superior broadband service,” said Tom Rutledge, president and CEO of Charter Communications.

“Our industry-leading low-cost broadband service is just one of the many benefits these transactions will bring to our customers,” Rutledge continued. “We look forward to providing this superior broadband service to underserved families and seniors throughout Charter’s footprint.”

As his cable system prepares to absorb more than 13 million video subscribers from Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and Bright House Networks, in millions more high-speed Internet users, Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) President and CEO Tom Rutledge recently laid out some of the details of how the technology integration will work.

Speaking at an “investor day” event last week for Liberty Media, Charter’s biggest shareholder, Rutledge said Charter will continue to rely on its cloud-based strategy that relies on two-way communications with older set-tops. This will differ radically from services like TWC Maxx, which call for the installation of advanced Arris-made DVR set-tops into customer homes.

“Historically, the chips and processing power and storage of older set-tops was the lowest common denominator in which you could roll out new products across your footprint,” Rutledge said.

Originally appeared in Florida TodayBy: Ilana Kowarski
November 10, 2015

Brevard County employees of the Bright House Networks cable and media company have volunteered more than 600 hours in the community this year.

“Bright House Networks, its leadership and employees are some of Brevard’s most active corporate citizens,” said Rob Rains, president of United Way of Brevard. “Whether it’s raising money for United Way or making resources available to some of our most vulnerable youth in afterschool programs like Boys & Girls Clubs, this business is always willing to step up to the plate.”

The company offers a “Community Service Day Program,” which allows full-time employees to get paid for a workday of volunteering and part-time employees to get paid for a half-day of volunteering, and it supports local nonprofits by providing free public service announcements.

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. In connection with the proposed transaction between Time Warner Cable Inc. (“Time Warner Cable” or “TWC”) and Charter Communications, Inc. (“Charter”), Charter’s subsidiary, CCH I, LLC (“New Charter”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 that includes a joint proxy statement of Charter and Time Warner Cable that also constitutes a prospectus of New Charter (the “Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus”). The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on August 20, 2015, and Charter and Time Warner Cable commenced mailing the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus to their respective stockholders on or about August 20, 2015. This communication is not a substitute for the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus or registration statement or for any other document that Charter or Time Warner Cable may file with the SEC or send to Charter’s and/or Time Warner Cable’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transactions. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF CHARTER AND TIME WARNER CABLE ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED OR THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and security holders are able to obtain free copies of the registration statement and the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by Charter, New Charter or Time Warner Cable through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Charter or New Charter are or will be available free of charge on Charter’s website at http://charter.com, in the “Investor and News Center” near the bottom of the page, or by contacting Charter’s Investor Relations Department at 203-905-7955. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Time Warner Cable are or will be available free of charge on Time Warner Cable’s website at http://ir.timewarnercable.com or by contacting Time Warner Cable’s Investor Relations Department at 877-446-3689.

Charter and Time Warner Cable and their respective directors and certain of their respective executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the proposed transactions under the rules of the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of Charter is set forth in the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which was filed with the SEC on February 24, 2015, and its proxy statement for its 2015 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 18, 2015. Information about the directors and executive officers of Time Warner Cable is set forth in the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which was filed with the SEC on February 13, 2015, as amended April 27, 2015, its proxy statement for its 2015 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on May 18, 2015 and its Current Reports on Form 8-K, which were filed with the SEC on June 1, 2015 and August 6, 2015. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitations and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will also be included in any proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.